Dwarf King’s Hold Game Play Video
June 30, 2011 by lloyd
Following on from having a look at the prototype Andy and Jake play through a small game of Dwarf King's Hold.
This game's been fun to play and it's a bit of a running joke in here now that Andy always losses in this game and true to form even in the game play video he losses!
So guys what do you think of how it plays?
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finally we see it
Having just watched it seems to be fairly solid gameplay…looks like you need to just run as fast as possible to the end and shield bash your wat through the bones.
backs to the walls boys
Ah ha, been waiting for this.
Just need to go and order one now.
@trebormills, yeah It looks like you could win that particular scenario with judicious applications of Bellybash and leg it, but I’m thinking the other ones won’t be so simple.
Not convinced whether that particular scenario is as perfectly balanced as it should be – the odds seem to be stacked against the dwarfs there, even accounting for some unlucky dice rolls – I could see myself replaying that scenario (with only the 3 dwarfs allowed) six times and quite easily losing all six, regardless of tactics, which could be a tad frustrating – but the general gameplay seems quite interesting. I’m not blown away so far, but I am interested to see what else the game has to offer so I’ll be keeping an eye out for any more… Read more »
Really liked this video. Great to see the game being played. Has me sold to buy myself a copy and perhaps a second for the gaming club.
Have to say, that although it looks good it’s not really what I had hoped for. It does seem to be Space Hulk in a dungeon rather than a more random dungeon crawler that I’d been hoping for. Also disappointed that there are only 6 scenarios included but lets hope that the ‘internet’ and mantic web site improve things on that front.
I’m not put off yet, but will be monitoring for more info..
I’d agree that it’s not the crawler I was hoping for either but as I say below I like the mechanics and it shouldn’t be hard to adapt other races to work …
I like it – definately on my wish list
Think i said this in the preview thread but the fact that it isnt a dungeon crwaler per se doenst put me off. Has more in comon with a Skirmish game. I echo the thoughts though that hopefully the internet and mantic will push out “mini supplements” for it.
Looking good though – definately swaying towards buying this.
Gotta say I am really liking how Mantic are pushing there minatures down as many avenues as possible.
I’m impressed so far. but not sure how balanced that scenario is. as another poster said, I can see loosing alot with dwarves.
On the whole though so far it looks great, and simple enough to get non wargaming people involved in it. I look forward to more vids!
I’m glad that this looks more like Space Hulk than Warhammer Quest. Also, the tactical action reminds me a lot of “new” D&D.
Of course, I pre-ordered this weeks ago, so I’m glad it’s not going to be money down the pan…
Thanks for the vid.. love how simple the game is.. maybe a little to simple.. but a great quick game.. hope to see this expand into something really huge. 🙂
I’m really looking forward to the expansions… As of now, the game looks beautiful and fast paced, simple, yet deep enough… But it’s still Space Hulk in a dungeon !
Sorry Mantic…
I’m Impressed, it looks really great, it plays very well (obviously), but I already own Space Hulk, HeroQuest, and too many versions of D&D to consider playing that game “as is”, or on a regular basis.
I haven’t seen the “je ne sais quoi” that would sway me just yet !
I’m waiting for it to be more complex, more HeroQuest, and more readily customizable.
Use this Mantic product to expand on your many others then. plenty of models, tiles and tokens for your cash.
Damn you… You’re… You’re right !
Really nice job. I love the simple yet tactical rules. Some of the other dungeon games I have require several different decks of cards, a slew of unique dice, or several charts and die modifiers to figure out. While those games are fun, it’s really great to see a dungeon crawler that lets ya play quickly and that others can pick up easily too.
You were right Andy Your dice gods have deserted you! Libations of Guinness needed to placate them, and maybe a human sacrifice or two wouldn’t be a bad idea. If we don’t see any more of Darrell and Warren, we will understand! 😉 Jake has done a good job imho and I like the look of the ease of play/tactical requirement ratio. From what was said in the live interview, Mantic will be producing two more sets with other races and extra scenarios will be put up on the website.. The system is very flexible so you can add your… Read more »
I’ve never played a crawler, and I typically don’t enjoy board games, but so far Mantic hasn’t let me down. I’ll have to give this a shot as soon as I finish my Mantic Wood Elf army, and pick up some new shield-less archers, oh and finish my Abyssal Dwarves, for which I could use some greenskin models as rabble…
I think Andy totally forgot about his objective by turn 2 and went on randomly bashing skellies with no plan whatsoever 😉 As a die-hard fan of Space Hulk, I think a fantasy-version sounds quite interesting. However, I don’t like the random actions aspect and all the tokens / micromanaging it involves. Random dice rolls are enough in my opinion, not really being able to plan your movement due to the fact that you don’t know what and how many actions you can do. I see lots of frustration coming from this and doubt balancing benefits from it (if this… Read more »
As Jake said on the interview the game is flexible and open to player input.
The scenario is a template so if you think it is imbalanced try a variation.
Add a dwarf /a dog/ remove skellies/bone piles /change layout etc
Well, of course. That applies to basically any game or gamesystem. But if I end up designing my own game, I don’t need to buy the box, really 😉 And the Questbook in HeroQuest and the likes wasn’t just a “suggestion” or “template” – it worked right out of the box. And that’s what I am getting at. After all, they present it this way – so I am just wondering about some of the design decisions. And of course how much care went into the process of crafting/playtesting (if any) the scenarios would be of importance as well –… Read more »
But if you watched the video you would have seen that the dwarves also won that scenario.
Watching one game makes it a bit harsh to make a judgement call that the game is unbalanced.
I could claim that HQ is broken cos the good team will always win the first scenario, based on my own experience of winning the game with the good players.
But I won’t. .
.
I think I made it clear in my posts where my assumption that balancing could be an issue comes from. It’s not really the outcome that bothers me – and Andy wasn’t exactly up for the challenge (sorry Andy) against an experienced player, but that actually made some of the points I wondered about come up more clearly. Besides, I even stated that if it’s not balanced it’s fine by me too, I just would like to know beforehand that the factions don’t meet on equal grounds and that this wanted by design. Still this is the first scenario, I’d… Read more »
I think that it is a better set of rules than those of space hulk.
Looks interesting – not too sure abbout a “run out of actions” ending – seems a bit anti-climactic. I’d rather that at the point the actions run out, they all get recycled, but the skeletons get reinforcements turn up or something. I dont think there’s enough to say this is imbalanced on watching this – perhaps it might have been better to reverse the roles for this test, with the designer playing what seemed to be the harder job of the dwarves? Even if the skeletons then got the (literal!) hammering,it would have probably been a more exciting outcome than… Read more »
Hi folks, Jake Thornton here. Hope you don’t mind if I weigh in with a few comments of my own. Firstly, thanks for being interested enough to watch the video. It was lots of fun making this and the other videos with the BOW guys. Live internet TV is weird. Secondly, I do understand that Dwarf King’s Hold (DKH) won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. That’s cool. If we all liked the same thing then it’d be very dull. That said, I’d still like to address some of the comments made here as I think there are some slightly mistaken… Read more »
I’m sorry if I offended you by calling your game Fantasy Space Hulk… I didn’t mean it as a slight, though, as I’m fond of SH myself ! I heartily welcome DKH, I truly do ! After seeing and reading what’s on BoW, I firmly believe it to be better and richer than SH, while remaining easier for everyone… Everyone here is aware of the similarities, I’m sure : A smaller team of strong, armored guys tries to achieve objectives in a corridors/rooms environment while a team of weak yet numerous/replenishing opponents tries to stop them… There’s action points tokens,… Read more »
Talking with the main man behind it, excellent. Thanks for taking your time. About the scenario: Maybe you Mantics can put up a little battle-report up in your blog or something where you explain the game a bit indepth for both factions? Or as a response you lead the dwarves to victory, post a bunch of pictures, maybe? I think the ways to “win” for both factions are pretty obvious in this scenario (and it’s reminding me of how playing Resident Evil well works, which is basically to run away from the Zombies), but I wonder if the Undead player… Read more »
Hi Aulbath, you make some interesting points. I’ll see what I can do to answer them. Battle report/tactical notes: certainly an option. I’ll have to see how my time goes this week. Does the Dwarf have a chance? Yes. Shield bash is a good way to clear stalemates and blocked sections if they are positioned so you can use it, but that’s not always possible. As you say, much of the grand tactics are fairly obvious. However, there is a more detailed level of tactics associated with facings, sequencing of attacks and token management (more on that later) which emerges… Read more »
I like how your first long paragraph sounds (well, reads). That’s the reason I really enjoy Incursion and Space Hulk. Being at the right spot at the right time facing the right way. Kinda anticipating my enemies next move and being prepared for that. If there is plenty of that in Dwarf King’s Hold I am sold. I love that stuff, and being much more melee-based than both Incursion or Space Hulk (even though you don’t like this comparision, but I think that is closer than comparing it to simple Dungeon romps like HeroQuest). Startersets sounds great, will they be… Read more »
Just quickly – the starter sets will come out in order with gaps between them to get them properly playtested (and wait for Mantic to release the Orcs). So, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit for the Orcs. The tiles will be different art, though naturally some of the shapes will be repeated. Each starter set will have its own set of new scenarios. Not repeating any of them. There will also be extra (free) ones in the Mantic Journal and online. If you had more than one starter set there’s no reason why you couldn’t try scenarios… Read more »
@quirkworthy – thanks for taking the time and explaining the differences between DKH & SH, has made me think more favourably in spending my Hard earned on it, however.. I may wait for the Orc version 😉
Hope it works out for you, it seems you’ve definitely put a lot of work in to it 🙂
For me is’t a fine simple game with depth. I will give it a chance to play. In the video there was really bad luck for Andy. But thats a dice problem not a game problem. 😀
at 1st look the game looked like the dwarfs with there 4 dice seamed a bit overpowered but after watching how you play the game ive changed my mind and seems more balanced. i do think that there will be a big differance between new players vs experainced players for both sides but with even a simple house rule that the new player get say an extra few tokens for the dwarf player and mybe a few extra pile of bones for the undead player to even up the first few games for them. as for this game i think… Read more »